imperial_projectfandomcom-20200214-history
The Thunderous Goat (Family)
"The Only Truth is Might" Bjornillson family motto His name was Bjorn Cent Olstenson. He was nothing when the Mikado selected him to lead a simple expedition deep into Nittan territory to eliminate a pesky spirit that had enslaved a small region. Not from the largest social or ethnic group in the Sons of Heaven, he was oft-maligned for his rigid ideas on religion, war and even on what the Sons of Heaven should have been doing. Rumors had it that he was actually an exile from another group of Sons of Heaven. The twenty or so soldiers that followed him, along with the hundred Nittan auxilaries, did not know why they had to serve him or respect him, other than that the Mikado had told them to. And on this trip, he became known as The Thundergod. Nittan peasants made shrine in his honor, spirits bent the knee to his might and a mighty youkai, Raijin, became associated with his legend, having been crushed by the hammer of the powerful warrior and his essence becoming entwined with the man who would become the leader of one of the strangest family of the Empire. The Thunderous Goat follows almost none of the societal norms of the Empire, living by their own rule and creed. They are warriors, of course, like all good Sons of Heaven, but they have their own way to serve the Mikado. They were not rewarded with a lordship until late in the history of the Empire, but those who follow the Goat have been influencial in many ways in the Imperial Legions and in the way the peasantry deals with the Sons of Heaven. The Goat family The Goat is not a large family, counting only a main family and two side-branches, but all those families are very closely knit and serve toward the same goals. The family names in the Thunderous Goat are weird, as they take the name of their father or mother and simply add "son" or "dottir" at the end to show their appartenance to the family. Members of the family are not known to "marry true", often prefering to take wives and husbands amongst the Warrior-caste, but it is also true that the Goat also have a disdain for societal norm, with many family members having quite a few mistress and sometimes having bastards rise to the top of the family lines. Imperial rules of etiquette and courtesy mean very little to the Thunderous Goat, same with Bushido and other forms of honor code. Their family motto is something many of them live by, and they show it to those who dare to oppose them in the political field with fillibusters, official complaints and many other things that would make any "good family" lose face. And of course, when all fail, the Goat is always ready to rely on military strength, which for such a small family, they have in large amounts. Lordship and territory The traditional territory of the Goat was a rich valley in the Mountains, but late in the 19th century, they were kicked out by a Shogunate edict to allow the Kindai Temple to have an official lordship. This caused the current lord, Bjornil Haroldson, to bring off various official requests to the Imperial authority, all of which were rapidly rejected. In a fit of rage, Haroldson moved his armies down south and subjugated the City of High Walls, where he established his new lordship against the Shogun's wish, but invoking his ancient Rights of Dominance , nobody had any recourse. The region surrounding the City of High Walls is fairly rich, with large areas of farmlands specialized in wheat and corn along, herds of sheeps and goats and access to a few rich iron mines. After the arrival of the Thunderous Goat in the region, the City of High Walls was also turned from a distribution center for those raw materials into a transformation center, with manufactures springing up within the city walls and large, modern forges similar to those near the Yunjin capital taking over part of the countryside. Sadly, the City of High Walls is not a very safe region, with bandits coming from the Mountains and most of the Plains, meaning the Goat has to spend a lot of its time managing threats in his own territory. Luckily, the Goat was always a very militaristic family, keeping large numbers of samurai and ashigaru in arm at all time. Specialized in heavy infantry forces, this is drastically different from the typical Plains military force, which causes some issues for brigands. The Goat is one of those strange lord: while they have a reputation for being fair to the locals, they also have a reputation for being harsh on them when time come. They also have a bad reputation for raising too many troops at all time to keep a strong force at all time, even in times of peace, which means farmers have to often work harder for the same results they would under other lords. The Thunderous Goat offcially follow the Way of the Stars, like most Sons of Heaven families, but they also have their own ancient religious belief that they keep practicing, officially recognized by the Ministry of Astrology, which is quite close to the Path of Spirits, but with a whole other group of gods, spirits and supernatural beings. Vassal families The Thunderous Goat have, over the years, made quite a few alliances and treaties, but have gotten very few vassals outside of the typical Samurai caste families who hold banners for them. Rivals and enemies The Thunderous Goat has few enemies in other families that were sharing borders with them along the Mountains, but they have also gained the hatred of most of the Kindai religious with their firm stance against them in the past, and after their lands were taken from them. Local powers in the City of High Walls have some resenment for the Goat, but have learned to deal with it over the few years they were under their control. The biggest group with which the Goat has issues is the Shogun himself, but this relation is more one-sided after the death of the old Shogun... Important members of the family #Early 21st century * Category:Nittan Category:Great Families